Stevie Nazarenie Posted September 19, 2008 Posted September 19, 2008 hi guys. i have just seen some cheap p90 pups. instead of going the whole hog and buying a p90 guitar as i've never had one. how much trouble and is it possible to house soapbars in a standard humbucker routed epi? i know i could get 2 other brand (cough.) humbucker type p90s. but these are half the price. is there any kind of housing that these could fit in? i have no idea how these actually attatch to the guitar. the job doesn't have to be perfect.
antwhi2001 Posted September 19, 2008 Posted September 19, 2008 P90s don't fit in a humbucker cavity. You would have to route out the cavity to make it longer. The existing cavity would also be too wide, you'd have a gap to cover somehow. Basically it doesn't work. That's why people make humbucker-shaped P90s. Cavity aside, how they fit to the guitar depends. If they're the dog-ear type covers it's a small screw at each end. These are easy but they are not height adjustable. I put one on an Epi LP Special at the bridge position, and it's miles away from the strings. The rectangular, non-dog ear covers have 2 small but long screws through the pickup into a special threaded bush set into the body of the guitar. This gives you height adjustment, in conjunction with either 2 springs, or just a block of foam rubber stuffed under the pickup.
Stevie Nazarenie Posted September 19, 2008 Author Posted September 19, 2008 ahh ok. well i guess then i could try my goldtop copy. i did not want to take that one apart. it has routing for mini humms. i'm not sure whats undermeath the pickups though. failing that i have a knackered old strat i would be prepared to hack up. any tips on that? i guess the pickgaurd would have to be recut. that would hide any dodgy woodworking attempts of mine. i did see some p90 routed pickgaurds on the warmoth site. but cost is an issue...
Goldie Posted September 19, 2008 Posted September 19, 2008 If the guitar is routed for mini hums, the P90's should fit. They are attached with two small wood screws which screw in to the wood under the pickup, and height adjustment is achieved by the sponge rubber pad that is under the pickup. If you want to raise the pup closer to the strings like I did, then a piece of 1/4" plywood cut to the size of the pup is the ticket. Just use it like a washer, underneath the rubber next to the body.
GlennW Posted September 19, 2008 Posted September 19, 2008 I'm getting ready to go from HB's to P-90's on a 335 type guitar. It looks like dogear covers will cover the four HB ring holes and the HB routes. The routing for the HB mounting tabs will need to be enlarged a little bit to allow the P-90's to fit, not much, and not that deep. Dogears can be adjusted for height by shimming. An old wide leather belt makes good spacers, and the leather won't scratch the body. Once you've made them and got them the right thickness to give the desired height, hit them a couple of times with shoe polish for some color. If you're working on a solid body or semi-hollow body, soapbar P-90's can be used in dogear covers. You can put some foam or sponge under the bottoms of the pickups for support (like on Fender basses). The two holes to mount the dogear covers will be visible if you go back to HB's. As far as putting soapbars in a Strat you'll need to take some accurate measurements and glue blocks (probably necessary) to the floor of the pickup routes. You have to figure it so the pickup will be at the height you want, and so the mounting screws will be in enough wood to hold well.
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